Containers

ABSTRACT

A container for goods is disclosed, wherein the bottom of the container on which the goods are to rest comprises at least two superimposed layers of material and wherein there are provided a plurality of supports to space the bottom of the container from the ground, each of which supports comprises a first part sandwiched between the two layers and a second part disposed beneath the lower of the two layers, which parts are connected by another part which projects through an aperture in the said lower layer. The other part may be integral with either the first part or the second part, and the second parts of the supports may be interconnected by spacing means outside the container.

United States Patent [191 Walden et al.

[451 Aug. 27, 1974 p 22 Filed:

[ CONTAINERS [75] Inventors: Rex Keith Walden, Hertford; Arthur HenryTompkins; Harold Abraham Ross, both of London, all of England [73]Assignee: Ross Bros. (London) Limited,

London, England Oct. 27, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 301,443

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 29, 1971 Great Britain50496/71 [52] US. Cl 206/386, 108/55, 217/43 A, 229/ 14 R [51] Int. Cl.B65d 19/20 [58] Field of Search 206/46 R, 46 FR, 60 A; 229/14 R, 14 C,27; 220/97 B, 97 R; 217/43 A; 108/55 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,358,795 9/1944 Djidics et al. 220/97 B l/l957 Crane 229/279/1959 Breton 206/60 A Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack [5 7] ABSTRACT A container forgoods is disclosed, wherein the bottom of the container on which thegoods are to rest 'comprises at least two superimposed layers ofmaterial and wherein there are provided a plurality of supports to spacethe bottom of the container from the ground,

each of which supports comprises a first part sandwiched between the twolayers and a second part disposed beneath the lower of the two layers,which parts are connected by another part which projects through anaperture in the said lower layer. The other part may be integral witheither the first part or the second part, and the second parts of thesupports may be interconnected by spacing means outside the container.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures CONTAINERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Theinvention relates to container assemblies having containers.

The term container is intended to include any casing, holder or supportfor goods which has a bottom wall on which the goods can rest. Theinvention is thus applicable to pallets and stillages.

It is known to produce pallets for carrying goods, wherein the bottom ofthe pallet on which the goods are to rest comprises a single layer ofcardboard material, and wherein there are provided a number of supportsto space the bottom of the pallet from the ground. The supports are atight push-fit in holes drilled through the single layer of cardboard,and are pushed in from the topside of the layer.

Disadvantages of this known construction are that it would not be rigidenough to withstand repeated handling by warehouse fork lift trucks, andthat the weight of any load not uniformly spread over the whole palletarea would tend to separate the bottom of the pallet from its supports.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention there isprovided acon tainer assembly for goods, including a container, and wherein thebottom of the container on which the goods are to rest comprises atleast two superimposed layers of material and wherein there are provideda plurality of supports to space the bottom of the container from theground, each of which supports comprises a first part sandwiched betweenthe two layers and a second part disposed beneath the lower of the twolayers, which parts are connected by another part which projects throughan aperture in the said lower layer.

The other part may be integral with either the first part or the secondpart.

The first and second parts may be foldable relatively to one anotherwhereby the first part may be passed through the aperture and deflectedinto position between the two layers. For example, the other partconnecting the first and second parts may comprise a hinge connection ora flexible element.

Each support may comprise a single second part to which are connectedtwo or more first parts passing through separate apertures in the lowerof the two layers of the bottom wall of the container.

The container may be formed from any suitable material such ascardboard, fibre board, wood, plastics or the like.

The container may be of the kind which is folded from a blank and havinga bottom wall made up of two or more flaps folded from different sidewalls of the container so as to overlie one another, the flaps formingthe bottom wall of the container then constituting the aforesaid layers.

Each aperture may comprise a slot formed in the lowermost layer orlayers. Preferably each slot runs parallcl to an adjacent fold of thecontainer. Alternatively each aperture may be constituted by the edgegap formed when the container flaps are folded to overlie one another.

Each aforesaid second part may provide one or more apertures verticallyspaced to permit entry of the forks of a fork lift truck laterallythrough said second part.

In any of the above arrangements in which a flexible element isprovided, the flexible element and the sec ond part may be integrallyformed from a suitable material, for example a flexible or semi-flexibleplastics material.

Where more than one support is provided, the second parts of thesupports may be interconnected by spacing means outside of thecontainer.

The invention includes within itsscope a set of components for forming acontainer assembly of any of the kinds referred to above, the setcomprising a blank from which may be folded a container having a bottomwall comprising at least two superimposed layers of material, the flapswhich are to form the lowermost layers having a number of aperturesformed therein, and a number of supports of any of the kinds referred toabove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a corrugatedfibre board blank for forming a container;

FIG. 2 shows the blank partially assembled into a container, two wallsbeing cut away for clarity; and

FIG. 3 shows to a larger scale a vertical section through the completelyassembled container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, acorrugated fibre board sheet blank is formed with weakened foldsextending along its surface. The folds divide the sheet blank into fourwalls 51, 52, 53, 54, four base closure flaps 55, 56, 57, 58, four topclosure flaps and a fastening strip 71 adjoining one edge of the endmostwall of the blank. Two of the base closure flaps, 56 and 58, each ofwhich will hinge on opposed side walls of the assembled container, areprovided with elongate slots 59, 61 running parallel to the flap folds.

For use with the container there are provided two supports, eachconsisting of two wooden battens 62, 63 between which are sandwiched twowooden blocks 64, 65. In this embodiment, the wooden blocks are locatedat opposite ends of the battens and are nailed into place. One of twothin flexible sheet metal strips 66 is sandwiched between the topmostbatten and each wooden block, and the two strips 66, 67, have rivettedto them plywood tongues 68, 69 respectively which are sized to fit theaforementioned slots 59, 61.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the container is assembled by folding the endsof the blank together and stapling the overlapping fastening portion 71to the opposite wall 51 to form a rectangular box. The two base closureflaps 55, 57 are then folded towards one another across the lower end ofthe box, and the closure flaps 56, 58 having the slots are also foldedacross the lower end of the box so as to be beneath the other baseclosure flaps.

The plywood tongues of each support are then inserted into the slotsfrom beneath the base of the container so that the topmost batten seatsagainst the base, and are folded flat inside the container to besandwiched between the two sets of closure flaps and retained inposition, the flaps being pressed down on top of the plywood tongues.The two layers formed by the flaps act as a floor for the container, andthe presence of the wooden supports which straddle the outermost flapjoin prevents the weight of goods in the container from bursting openthe base closure flaps. When the container has been filled, the topclosure flaps are folded and stapled together to close the container inknown manner.

The height of the supports, and the spacing between the wooden battens,are such that entry of the forks of a fork lift truck beneath thecontainer is possible, and the lower edges of the lowermost batten arechamfered to facilitate sliding of the container over an uneven floor.

Although two supports are used in the embodiment just described, it willbe appreciated that other embodiments could use different numbers ofsupport depending upon such factors as the size and shape of thecontainer and the weight of goods to be supported.

Further embodiments having alterations to some or all of thefeatures ofthat described above, but which remain within the scope of the inventionare also possible. For example, the slots in the outermost base closureflaps may be dispensed with and the support tongues inserted into theedge-gaps formed when the two sets of base closure flaps are folded tooverlie one another. In this embodiment, the supports would span thecontainer from edge to edge. The tongues themselves may be located atpoints on the support other than one of the outer edges for example,they may be located at a central portion of the support and there couldbe any suitable number of them. One 62 of the support battens of theembodiment described above could be dispensed with, and in thatembodiment the two supports could be interconnected by further battens72 or connecting .means to form a composite structure. In such anarrangement, the positioning of the tongues on the supports would haveto be suitably matched to the spacing apart of the slots in the blank.

Where the container is in the form of a pallet or stillage, the sidewalls are usually omitted or are in the form of upturned edges servingto reinforce the horizontal edge. Thus to form for example a 48 X 40inch pallet using three supports, the side walls ofa container blank(without top closure flaps) could be folded over again to overlie thetwo sets of base closure flaps and thus form a pallet of severalthicknesses of board. The tongues of alternate supports could then besandwiched between different layers of board to take the weight of goodscarried by the pallet.

A simpler form of pallet embodying the invention comprises a flat sheetcorrugated board, whose two opposed comparatively narrow end flaps areslotted as described above and. then turned under the sheet to receivethe tongues of the supports.

We claim: v

1. A container assembly for goods, said container assembly comprising:

a container folded from a blank and having a bottom wall made up of atleast two flaps folded from different side walls of said container so asto overlie one another;

a plurality of supports to space the bottom of said container from theground, each said support comprising at least two first parts foldablyconnected to a single second part;

the lowermost of said flaps of said bottom wall having therein aplurality of slots each extending parallel to an adjacent fold of saidcontainer; and

said first parts of said supports passing through respective of saidslots and being folded towards their associated second parts andsandwiched between overlying of said flaps of said bottom wall to locatesaid supports against the bottom of said container.

2. A container assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of saidsecond parts has therein at least one aperture, vertically spaced andsized to permit lateral entry therein of the forks of a fork lift truck.

3. A container assembly as claimed in claim 2, further comprisingspacing means positioned outside said container interconnecting all ofsaid second parts of

1. A container assembly for goods, said container assembly comprising: acontainer folded from a blank and having a bottom wall made up of atleast two flaps folded from different side walls of said container so asto overlie one another; a plurality of supports to space the bottom ofsaid container from the ground, each said support comprising at leasttwo first parts foldably connected to a single second part; thelowermost of said flaps of said bottom wall having therein a pluralityof slots each extending parallel to an adjacent fold of said container;and said first parts of said supports passing through respective of saidslots and being folded towards their associated second parts andsandwiched between overlying of said flaps of said bottom wall to locatesaid supports against the bottom of said container.
 2. A containerassembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said second parts hastherein at least one aperture, vertically spaced and sized to permitlateral entry therein of the forks of a fork lift truck.
 3. A containerassembly as claimed in claim 2, further comprising spacing meanspositioned outside said container interconnecting all of said secondparts of said supports.